Feather

Kian was about a dozen strokes from reaching his destination on the opposite bank. He could see it was a tiny island but it was protected by the fiercest of monsters that only seemed to emphasise the value of its occupant.
Just a dozen strokes or more and I’m there, he thought trying to suppress the sick feeling of anxiety and fear rising up his throat.
His paddle hit something hard and when he looked over the side the canoe tilted slightly. But just as he saw fierce eyes staring up at him from below the water’s surface he was splashed with ice cold water which seemed odd for the water had been tepid when he had had to wade in it.
He spluttered and shook the water off him. He lifted the paddle again with the mind to increase his speed tenfold but a pale grey hand reached up from the water just as he was about to dip his paddle in.
He stabbed at it with the paddle and bubbles broke the calm of the surface as the hand was yanked back from whence it came.
“Ah!” he yelled and paddled for all he was worth. The canoe rocked dangerously to the side and strong arms tried to stop its progress. But his arms were stronger. All that vine swinging had paid off.
There was the sound of splintering wood and he lurched forward out of the canoe. He flew headlong into springy turf. Moaning, he tried to stand but fell back. He was sure he had heard something crack. He looked back instead.
A humanoid shape, slick with some black unknown substance was rising out of the water. The features were undistinguishable and knotted brown green hair fell to it’s knees like hundreds of furry rat tails. The darkness he thought to be a face split open to reveal startling white gnashers each sharpened to a needle point. Suddenly his leg didn’t feel so bad anymore, in fact, he felt like he could run for ever on them.
He took his own advice. He sprang up into the air challenging the laws of gravity and started to run. The moon hid her pale solemn face behind her black feather fan and Kian stumbled at the sudden loss of light. But his dark elf eyes quickly adapted and he sprinted even faster. He heard a horrible squelching behind him and a disturbing rustle of dry leaves that he was sure wasn’t underfoot but were the noises the creature was making.
What apparition was this monster?!
Like he had thought earlier, the island was tiny and he ended up just where he been, the crashed canoe to his left and a steep rock face to his right which was what had been preventing him from actually going ‘inland’. He knew running in circles was stupid when the lake monsters surrounded him.
When he risked a glance back his pursuer had vanished. His shoulders sagged and his muscles tensed even further as the canoe was dragged further out and slowly became submerged. He heard the faint sound of unpleasant laughter as it disappeared from view.
Now what? He sat down heavily on the turf. He tried to remember what Yin had told him about the lake’s less…pleasant inhabitants.
“They feed on your emotions. Fear and anger satisfy them for a short time but hopelessness is what they thrive on. Give them what they want and they’ll keep coming back for more. Nothing scares them more than really happy thoughts…or if those aren’t at hand then a weapon is strongly advised.”
That helps, he thought but took the long dagger Yin had given him from his leg sheath anyway. The polished blade gleamed in the moonlight and the hilt was silver etched with simple runes of some kind he was illiterate in.
How will I get close enough to one of them without having to into the water? Sooner or later I’ll succumb to hunger of fear, probably fear, and venture in. And that will be the last thing I’ll ever do, Kian thought as he kept his back to the relative safety of the rock face and his front towards his enemies the dagger clutched tightly in one hand and his other he kept on his bow strapped to his back along with a couple of arrows. He hoped they would be enough against magical beasts. He’d heard that even the one horn’s couldn’t be trusted.
Just as he was starting to hear peculiar disturbing noises again, he saw a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye. Kian stood up slowly trying not to make any noise for not only was the water still being stirred by silent waiting bodies but to his far right where the lake lapped at the shore stood a boulder jutting out from the water. And standing precariously on the pointed top was a girl.